It would be silly for us to say that these boards are the cat’s pajamas. One, because they are not pajamas, and two, cat fashion has nothing to do with snowboarding. However you want to spin it, felines seem to be all the rage in the snowboard décor department this year. Maybe it has something to do with the two million plus cat videos on YouTube or perhaps cat power makes you snowboard better. Regardless of the reason, after sifting through the litter we have compiled our ultimate meow mix for the 2015/’16 season.- Pat Harrington

It is said that certain animals when paired together can make unlikely friendships. Take the snake that became friends with the mouse that was intended to be dinner, for example. Perhaps that is why the “Danger Pony,” aka Jess Kimura, has made such good friends with the cosmic kitty that dons the topsheet of her new CAPiTA pro model. Jess’s board is a true twin built with CAPiTA’s “Flat-Kick” rocker technology, creating an even-flexing yet responsive board that is ideal for all-around freestyle trickery. It’s a regular cat and pony show. That’s how the saying goes, right?capitasnowboarding.comMSRP: $450

Popularized in Lewis Carroll’s timeless classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the cheshire cat has become a symbol of cunning and trickery the world over, making this graphic totally appropriate for our friend Ben Bogart’s pro model. As one of the most consistently stylish tricksters in recent memory, Bogey requires a board that rides just as well as it looks. Hidden beneath the Zeachman artwork is a sturdy poplar wood core beefed up with birch stringers for extra strength on those hard landings. The flat camber profile keeps things consistent and the SINtered base ensures that Bogey will have enough speed to make it all the way to Wonderland if he really wanted to. dinosaurswilldie.comMSRP:$329.99

What’s your happiest hour of the day? Perhaps it’s when you roll out of bed and have that first cup of joe. Or maybe it’s meeting up with the crew for some post powder day suds. Regardless of what you consider happy hour, this board was designed to make every hour on the hill more fun than the one before. After a handful of seasons stoking out the slopes, this fan favorite board has received some awesome new upgrades for 2016. Its new Lifted Tweakends blend the concepts of camber and flat profiles by simply raising the middle portion of the deck higher than the contact points without bowing the board and its hand-drawn graphic is purr-fect. It is truly the new happy medium in board design. k2snowboarding.comMSRP:$500

By commissioning legendary skateboard artist Sean Cliver for the new Kink graphics, Ride is paying homage to its early aesthetic roots, when guys like Russell Winfield and Jake Blattner were jibbing around on decks not too dissimilar to this one. While the looks of this board might take you back in time, the new bill of materials are nothing but state-of-the-art. Ride’s proprietary tech features like urethane Slimewalls and heavy duty Cleave Edge and a hybrid twin profile give this classic skate-style deck a decidedly 21st century feel.ridesnowboards.comMSRP: $409.95

Generally speaking, when assassins get caught, they go to prison. Maybe that was the inspiration behind the tattoo-themed art that has been inked onto Salomon’s Assassin. Regardless of the artist’s inspiration, this board is most certainly the weapon of choice for freestyle assassins like Wolle Nyvelt and Taka Nakai. It was designed to be the ideal twin tip ride that can handle anything from Nippon pow to a Superpark hip session. Laid up with Salomon’s famous blend of bamboo, cork and basalt, it has all of the ingredients for a truly killer ride. salomonsnowboards.comMSRP:$470

Built by the in-house staff at Burton in their cozy Vermont prototyping facility (named after Craig Kelly), comes this reinvented classic. The same shape and graphic that was strapped to Terje Haakonsen’s feet in 1995 has been recreated with updated materials and sizes to meet the needs of everyone’s favorite Norwegian shredder. Equipped with Burton’s channel mounting system, FSC certified “Dragonfly” core, carbon highlights and a high-end sintered base, this cat has been let out of the bag to make its mark on the 21st century. Seeing that Haakon himself has grown up a bit since the mid 90’s, this board can’t simply be called “The 152” anymore. Now you have more mature sizes of 156 and 159 centimeters that can handle the bigger and badder terrain that big T himself thrives on.
burton.comMSRP:$409.95

Although the word Vixen is the name given to a female fox, who’s to say that a leopard doesn’t fit the bill when it came to decorating this award-winning snowboard? As the franchise women’s model of the Smokin’ line, the Vixen boasts a wealth of tech that any rider will be stoked on. A smidge of rocker between the bindings and camber outside of the inserts creates a delightful balance of looseness and stability, and when coupled with mellow MagneTraction, it’s clear that this shred sled is ideal for any rider seeking out fun on any terrain.smokinsnowboards.comMSRP:$490

Why is it that cats always seem to land on their feet? No matter how topsy-turvy they get in the air, they always stomp the landing and act like it was no big deal. Maybe that’s why Austrian acrobat Anna Gasser has chosen to infuse some of that spirit into her new Nitro board. As one of the only female riders to be consistently stomping double corks, Anna relies on Nitro’s well-known board technologies to keep her confident when it’s time to land on her feet. The lowrider camber creates enough pop to explode from takeoffs while not being too catchy when put on edge and the Bi-Lite laminate layup allows for tactile board feel and bombproof durability without weighing you down.nitrousa.comMSRP: $329.99

Jamie Lynn has become just as well known for his art as he is for his snowboarding. He has a rotating cast of characters that keep showing up on his canvasses, one of them being some iteration of this big blue cat. The art is undeniably Mr. Lynn’s, and that’s why Lib Tech decided to put it on a board that is equally synonymous with the northwest legend. Resurrected from the Mervin archive, this is a board shape that Jamie has been riding for the better part of two decades. Lib left out the MagneTraction on this deck, loaded up the tip and tail with camber and built a snappy half capped construction. It’s an updated version of your favorite Jamie board that you had back when your mullet was cool. (Editor’s note: Mullets are still pretty cool.)lib-tech.comMSRP:$600